Heartbreaking

"Scenery so heartbreaking. One house church covered by the mud. All things destroyed. Many members are homeless..."

It was heartbreaking, indeed. That was part of a text message I received this afternoon from Iloilo City, devastated by a typhoon over the weekend. While you and I were comfy and cosy at home, the central islands in the Philippines were wrecked and flooded and thousands of people were left sitting on their rooftops waiting for help. And then a ferry (similar to one I often slept in while commuting from island to island during my trips) turned upside down in the rough seas, taking with it over 700 people.
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We hastily made arrangements to get some funds through to our brethren on Monday, but when I informed Ranie, our contact in Iloilo City, she SMSed that "...water still high, no bank, no electricity, no (drinking) water, the whole city is floating." She also mentioned that the windows of her apartment had blown away, and the church was being used as a refugee centre. (Pictured below: Doane Baptist Church, used as a refugee camp.)

And then she also mentioned that they had run out of food.

Today, the situation is a little better, but still grim, and the bank finally opened. 90% of the homes and churches we support are gone, the people homeless.

I go to Iloilo City nearly every year, and always find it neat and tidy, by Philippines standards. We stayed in comfort with Ranie at her apartment, and the shopping's great too. The closest we had ever been in any sort of typhoon was when we were stuck at Manila airport with our flight delayed several hours due to heavy rains in Iloilo City.

Here are photos of the city and the province in happier times, during my last visit five months ago - the Dinagyang festival in January, visiting one of the house churches, and feasting on duo-flavoured mango shakes.